


Red Eyes

by manthony2691



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, F/M, Gen, Heist, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Metaverse (Persona 5), Mystery, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:00:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22677553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manthony2691/pseuds/manthony2691
Summary: Director Daishi Nakajima, the grave robbing sinner of deceit. For too long you've hidden your unforgivable crimes under the twisted veil of love and passion, tarnishing the name of Historians everywhere. By tomorrow night we shall make you confess and atone for your crimes by snatching away your most prized possession. The heart of your distorted desires.Signed, The Wunderkinds.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Niijima Makoto, Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto
Kudos: 4





	Red Eyes

**Red Eyes**

**(5/31/20XX – Friday, Evening) – (Location: Tokyo, Japan)**

* * *

The glistening of lights shines the street as rows of cars of exquisite design endlessly drive up to the grand building, many eyes looked towards the masterfully designed building with glee, awaiting tonight’s main show to begin.

Away from the main commotion, a yellow taxi arrives just a block away from the plaza, it’s grey eyed passenger in a well-tailored tuxedo fixes their VIP badge clips on and handsomely pay the driver for the convenience. Brushing their hand across they’re gelled black hair, they sigh at how late this event is as they make their way to the main entrance.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

A young man in a grey suit adjusts their black gloves as he see’s their objective minutes away. Already there were news vans littering the street, all wishing to capture on tape an esteem figure and they’re collection for the whole city to see. The driver next to him notice his fingers moving in nervousness and asks, “They say a leader instill confidence in their men, your kind of doing the opposite their boss.”

“I have plenty of confidence Sergeant, it’s everything else that’s agitating,” he whispered to himself as he brushes his short white hair, “ we had no reports leading up to this event that told us of any criminal targeting this museum, now suddenly the day before some attention-seeker spooks the Museum’s board members and director with some letter. It’s irritating, wasting resources and manpower cause of a couple criminals.”

“Eh, must mean something if the commissioner herself assigned you to this job,” the driver smiled, “besides theirs worst places to be assigned to, this might even look good on your record if tonight goes smoothly.”

They pull up to the event plaza, seeing the dozen other police cars already stationed here. The young officer steps out of the car and tells the Sergeant, “let’s just focus on locking up these perpetrators, at least then this will feel partially satisfying.”

The officers meet up with one of the stationed cops at the main stairs who help them guide a path through the swarm of well-dressed guests trying to enter as well. They reach the entrance where a pair of security guards were letting pass through another tuxedo wearing guest before meeting with the two authorities. Upon immediately recognizing them as the police, they let the man and his partner through with no trouble.

The sergeant takes in the sight of the grand main hall, looking to be three stories tall with a small marble overlook situated at the far end as a sort of fourth floor, the eight sided interior made it all look to be the most expensive room in the whole prefecture and this was only one section of the whole building. Already seeing displays both small and big containing valuable artifacts across the world, with guest wearing jewelry and clothes almost as priceless.

“You know what? I’m starting to believe someone will come afterall,” the sergeant said enamored by the sight,” I mean look at this place inspector…inspector?”

Despite his questions, the officer was more focused on analyzing the crowd around them. Too many familiar faces with the same history in their records, such a sight frustrated himself deeply. He inhales a deep breath as he remembers the respect a law enforcement should have to those acquitted, even if the methods to obtain them were questionable at best. Reaching the center of the hall he noticed a group of guests conversed around a man protected by security, he works with his partner to get through the huddle group as the older gentleman has just finished telling some joke to them.

A security guard abruptly stops the inspector, giving him the stink eye before the old man ease the unnecessary tension. “That’s quite enough, they’re the police after all. Everyone! Thank you for your time but I have important matters to discuss, p-please enjoy tonight’s exhibits, there’s more champagne over their if you wish to have some.”

The crowd fully disperse, leaving just the officers with the man and his bodyguards.

“Your Director Nakajima of this Museum, correct?” the young inspector asked.

“I am,” he answered, “and you are?”

“I hope it’s been a peaceful evening for you so far, I’m Inspector Sasaki of the Tokyo Police Force. We’re here concerning the disturbing message you’ve received the other day.”

“Ah yes yes, err thank you all for the assistance, please let’s discuss this at my office I-I’m a bit popular tonight as you saw hehe,” the director chuckled as he began walking up to one of the galleries.

The two officers didn’t quite get the humor and followed right behind him. Sasaki walked beside him and noticed the director glancing over to him, he raised his eyebrows at the behavior till the director said to him, “You know my new series of artifacts lined up tonight took months of preparations and delicate care, the tourists and locals visiting will bring great revenue to the prefecture.”

“Of course, the city has been looking forward to such an occasion,” Sasaki answered in his most professional manner.

“Then allow me to ask why your commissioner decided to send someone as young as you over some more…experienced or older at least,” the director groaned with a disappointed look in his eyes.

As kind of degrading and condescending the comment was, he was still an Inspector and tonight’s representative of the police and had to live up to the mantle. “I can understand your nerves making you a bit agitated director, and making you question if tonight will go smoothly as you planned. Well I can assure you our commissioner has reviewed and picked the best officer for the job, and I will do what it takes to protects a citizen’s rightful property.”

“Hmm, I do hope that’ll be the case for tonight,” the director groaned as they approach a gallery entrance leading to his office when a passerby suddenly bumps into him as a splash is heard.

“Woahoho! Excuse me miss…err,” the intoxicated young man said as his glass fell off his hands and shattered into pieces, the sudden loud sound bringing some sense to him as he see’s the look of anger at the Director’s suit and pants being soaks in wine.

“Oh my god! I-I am s-sorry Director!” he says in a panic before taking out a white handkerchief to hastily trying to clean the expensive suit.

“Grrr got off me you drunken fool,” he protests while failing to get the young man off him, “who the hell you think you are anyway!”

“Tanaka! Futoshi Tanako of my father’s business,” he answers as brushes his coat, “and please let me help at least clean this quickly!”

“N-no that’s quite err-! Someone get him off me already!” he yelled as Inspector Sasaki rubs his forehead at watching such a ridiculous sight and get between the two along with security pressuring for the man to move aside.

“Sir thank you for apologizing but we have important matters to discuss, and unless your evening to be ruined I suggest doing as he says,” Sasaki told the guest, who’s grey colored eyes and slick back hair popped up an old image he once saw but puts aside when the young man complies.

“O-oh! The police, I totally forgot,” the man stumbles as he quickly puts away handkerchief in his pocket. “Whatever you say sir, but please take this at least, it should cover for the suit.”

The Inspector nods as he is given a card and the Director swipes it off his hands as he hurriedly says, “Yes yes fine, now go already! Took you long enough also Inspector.”

Ignoring the comment again, Sasaki sighs as they continue to way into the gallery and walks past the man. This moment of levity reminding him of the face of that man, causes him to turn back and see the flustered guest blend into the crowd. The sergeant notices him lingering and asks, “What’s with the look?”

“That Tanaka kid has a bad record and an even worst attitude, only brushed aside by his father’s army of lawyers, so what the hell was with that behavior?” Sasaki curiously asks.

“He literally had a glass of wine on him, hardly his first tonight too. We all act funny when a bit tipsy.” The sergeant reasoned.

“I suppose…” he whispers to himself and catches up with the Director, mentally preparing for a long night.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

The last guest exited, opening the way for the outside guest to quickly enter in behind him, closing the bathroom door and blocking the door with a nearby trash can. He walks around the large public bathroom, the clean tile floors squeaking with each step he took checking the stalls, ensuring he is alone. He opens the last stall and smiles at it being empty and casually walks over to the large wall mirror.

“Honestly, it’s a miracle you’ve lasted this long in the first place,” a female voice chastises him

He focuses on getting ready as he reaches to his pocket and pulls out a handkerchief, covering a black and gold security card now in his hands.

“What if the director hasn’t brought his master key card with him and gave it to someone else? You would’ve made yourself look like an idiot!” the voice again rings in his head.

“Ah but it didn’t!” he triumphantly proclaimed as he takes off his tuxedo coat and tie, more than relieve in being able to breathe again, till it was just his white button shirt and dress pants and happily throws away the restrictive garb in the trash. “Besides, with a geezer that paranoid who else is their to trust with it but himself?” he reasoned as he rolls up his white sleeves and messing with his black hair to get rid of this annoying gel.

“You make it sound too easy Maou!”

“Code names please, even between us, it’s Enigma.”

“Still work shopping it I see,” the voice talked back, as male voice suddenly chimes in, “and what about the guards? They haven’t changed shifts at all! How do you expect to get past security now? The treasure room is far from guests reach!”

“I.G is the master of trade, not for information,” Enigma said as his smiles as his messy black short hair, “it’s not like I wasn’t planning for his info to be a bit lacking.” Enigma pulls down his bottom eyelid and carefully removes his grey colored eye contact, “Besides the guard routes were still accurate, so as long as we do it the old fashion way it should be a cake walk.”

“No, strolling in disguised is a cake walk, switching to plan B shouldn’t be!” the man nervously screamed.

“You know you guys talk and talk and it never feels like anything I say reaches you which is just unfair,” Enigma mumbles as he removes both contacts and looks up as his reflection, his deep red eyes filled with eager energy as he washes the contacts down the drain and enters one of the bathroom stalls. Stepping on top the toilet and opening the upper tile to reveal a vent just large enough for him to fit in, he pulls out a red phone as a weak but stable eye icon vibrates on screen, “not the first time I winged it, now can we just get to the fun stuff already?”

“You know what your right!” an upbeat girlish voice agrees, “Let’s have fun not dying embarrassingly and horribly tonight!”

“That’s the spirit!” he smiles and with a press of a button activates the app, ready to steal his prize from this broken-down palace.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Two large doors open as a pair of security guards continue on their route, walking down the pristine red and white walls littered with portraits and small artifacts, both similarly middle age men went down their assigned path with little disturbances to report on. The slightly younger of the two saw how twitchy the other’s fingers were as sweats drips down their forehead. He preferred to ignore him, till he started blabbering out, “Hey man, you think we really need the police on our necks?”

“It’s not exactly up to us to decide whether we want them or not,” the other answered, not too interested, “besides it’s just one night and I doubt a couple of thieves will risk dealing with this level of security.”

The other audibly gulps and worriedly says, “Thieves…you don’t think it’s actually the phantom-“

“Shut up about that already! Nobody has seen them in almost twenty years, they’re history alright?”

“Then why are you nervous?”

“I am not-!” the guard shouts out before stopping himself as they come to a split in the hall. He rubs his temple trying to keep his cool, “Look just go follow your route, I’m going to the break room.”

Not wanting to irritate his coworker, the other guard walks down the opposite path that comes to a different exhibit, some doors ahead leading to rooms filled with centuries old objects. He tries to clear his head and wipes the sweat on his brow, twitching upon hearing rustling in the walls. He mumbles at such a place even having rats as he turns the corner and leave the vacant exhibit hall behind.

One of the room’s doors creep open, inside showing a broken open vent and a shadowy figure leaping out of the room and clinging close to the walls as they quickly navigate the gallery.

Any sight of this figure roaming the halls would disappear in a blink of an eye with only a flash of a long red scarf and a dark coat highlighting something was there. They reach the end of a gallery and reach wooden doors, discreetly putting their ear on the door and hearing footsteps passing by till they were mere echoes in the distance. With great care they open the door and exit the room to a nearby hiding spot behind a large potted plant.

The guard from before walks ahead in the distance, coming to a door that opens to reveal another coming in. A pair of red eyes shrouded by a small plain black metal mask and a dark flat cap peak over and see the two briefly talk. The small gust of wind blowing strands of their hair tells exactly where that door leads as the guards close them and continue down the hall. With light footsteps the figure hurries to the door and opens to find the wide-open air roman styled garden pavilion, a large display taking up the middle of the 8th floor and splitting the north portion of the building from it’s southern portion. What also stood in front was a guard on post scanning the garden in front, unaware of the thief behind him.

Seeing this spot was a stone porch, the thief leaps over the marble railing and hiding off the side under the guard nose. Catching his breath, Enigma see’s a small roof hanging over the porch with a steel pipe right behind him. Quickly fixing his red gloves, he discreetly jumps on top the pipe and smoothly lands on the roof, the cover of darkness hiding his presence as he surveys the garden grounds as the sound of city life and cold wind fill the air.

“Alright let’s see what we got here,” he whispered to himself as he takes out compact pair of binoculars and see’s a sea of guards coating the grounds. “Huh, thought there be more,” he noted when the sound of the door below opening catches his attention and suddenly see’s half a dozen police officers with a leading sergeant taking charge of the situation.

“Happy now?” the annoyed woman’s voice asks with sarcasm as the roadblock ahead of them was genuinely difficult to bypass. The three main walkways through the garden were now crawling with security, with the police’s added flashlight and countless sidearms at their disposal made it a thief’s deathtrap.

Enigma bites into his knuckles in thinking of a way through.

“Come on Enigma, figure something out already!” the angry voice ordered.

“This is too many, we’re compromising too much in this mission already,” the fearful voice says

“Don’t be like that, we’ll find some way through, I know it!” another optimistically cheers

“M-maybe we should give up…” a low husky voice echoes in Enigma’s head, causing up to spot their ace in the hole.

“No tonight,” he declares before standing up and leaping off the roof to a nearby marble pillar. With a precise leap, he lands on top the high pillar, several feet above any of the guards view and searchlights.

“You found a path?” one of the voice gasps.

“This place is littered with tall pillars, art spires and garden rotunda’s, leads straight to other end’s upper floor,” Enigma whispers as the path ahead was now clear, “been awhile since doing this but it’s better than giving up.”

With careful timing, the thief jumps from point to point to cross a garden almost the length of a football field. With such a enduring challenge and area needed to be covered, Enigma was faced with a slip up. He tried to be aware of the guards attention, from ensuring the distance between them is furthest away or landing in a less crowded spot. So when he leaps onto the rooftop of a small rotunda, the vibration caused the sole officer inside to step out and shine a light on the small structure.

With her light shining on the spot, she see’s nothing that could’ve caused that noise, aware of the thief holding his breath on the other side. She slowly walks around, covering half the roof but seeing nothing as Enigma discreetly sneaks just out of the light. She see’s the crowd of guards and officers behind her and looks back up to the roof as someone taps her on the shoulder.

“See anything Officer Kurotani?” the sergeant asks her, similarly, wondering what she’s looking at.

Seconds pass in silence till Enigma hearing a flashlight clicking and those wonderful words come out, “It’s nothing, probably was a squirrel.”

“You got startled by a squirrel?” the sergeant asks, humorously.

“It sounded like a really big one, okay?” she quickly corrected before both chuckled and went back to their stations.

Enigma chuckled under his breath as well and quickly leapt over to his next spot, seeing the upper staircase deck was finally within reach. Jumping forward with bravado, he smoothly lands on the railing and quickly dashes inside with none of the nearby guards hearing anything out of the ordinary.

Once inside, the final building was rather simple to navigate with it being smaller than the northern section. Moving forward showed no signs of any guards, which worried Enigma more than anything. Making his way to what felt to be the center of whole floor, he comes across a pair of red doors to the largest exhibit room he’s seen yet. Looking to his left he saw nothing but a path around the room and to his right saw a similar route but with a large window looking over the city.

With the coast clear he approached the red doors with an air of excitement over him, he takes out the master key card and finds the digital lock…along with another.

He stood shocked when seeing on the large door frame there were was the expected gold lock to his right but now with a newly installed blue lock to his left. “Is that old man serious, two key cards?! How’d he get a new one installed in just a day?”

He paced back and forth, thinking of what to do now that a new roadblock was suddenly in the way. ‘Calm down, its still somewhere in here, maybe the head of security or perhaps in some locked safe? If either of those is the case, then where do I even begin to look?’ he thought as the operation seemed to take a serious turn for the worse.

He stops upon hearing footsteps in the distance approaching, he turns back to the previous open room and hides behind a large old sarcophagus on displayed. He tenses up when he hears the man suddenly stop, then proceeding to slowly walk into the room. The size of this person was felt with each step taken that shook the floor below, he was no ordinary guard. Enigma’s curiosity pushed him to peek over, which he did luckily out of the man’s sights and what he saw was a beast barely contained within his own suit.

The bearded man scanned the room, his gaze just overlooking where Enigma was hiding. Soon this intense glare turned to appreciation as he turned to look over some of the historical displays in the room. This gave Enigma the time to analyze his enemy, and from seeing his mannerisms and demeanor his gut told him this man held the answer to his dilemma.

“There he is,” he smiles in relief.

“Oh, you mean the six-foot, 240-pound monster in a suit. Nope, not happening, no way,” the fearful voice rings in his head.

As much as he hated to admit it, a straight fight in this kind of environment was far from ideal, “Yeah, your right, kicking his ass would probably attract to much attention. I got to find another way.”

“Sometimes you really do live in your own world,” a low husky voice comments on the previous line.

“Well, the real world can be disappointing sometimes,” he whispers back and wonders how he’s supposed to get a key card off him. ‘There’s always the element of surprise, ‘he thought before looking back at the large man who now seems to be in an important looking phone call. ‘Still, even at this calm state, he’s ready for anything. As if someone’s always behind him. Unless…he thinks it’s one of his lackeys…hmm.’

As a couple of ideas ran through his head, another sound of light footsteps came running from the same hall. Enigma ducks behind and curiously activates a small device as the smaller man runs up to the head honcho.

“Sir may I speak with you for a moment?!” they gasp out, slightly out of breath. The head guard doesn’t pay attention to him, causing the guard to say again, “S-Sir please, again this is urgent- “

He immediately shuts up upon seeing him raise a fist and whispering, “I’m at the phone with the director himself, want to get us both fired?!” An air of silence hanged as muffles from the phone is heard and the guard listened attentively to the other end, “...yes…alright I’ll inform you on my end immediately…of course, signing out.”

Putting away the phone, he calms his temper and straightforwardly ask, “Now what is it?”

“I-I’ve gotten a call over at the security room, apparently the motion sensors here picked up something moving in the vents, you don’t think it’s- “

“For fuck sakes, it’s just rats!” the guard suddenly shouts back at him, terrifying everyone in the room. He grabs his small shoulder, shoving him as he says, “You think someone even as scrawny like yourself can even fit in one of those things? Tell them unless they think this thief is a literal child, they should ignore it or tell the director himself of this ridiculous notion.”

“Ok ok, I’ll tell them,” he stutters and runs off half terrified at the real threats his boss gave.

Enigma clicked on the small device again upon hearing the conversation.

“Well that was interesting, but exactly how was that helpful?” one of the voices asked.

“You’ll see in a second,” he smirked and discreetly goes back to the hallway.

This sudden presence was felt by the head guard, he exited the room still calm and cool but fist clenched for any hint of real danger. After a while any hint of someone being here vanished, he prepared to walk back when an old voice echoed across the halls.

“Sir, may I speak with you for a moment? It’s something with security again!”

With an annoyed groan he stomps his way over to the over side where the voice was coming from, growing tired of these false alarms distracting him from any real points of entry these thieves could come in. He rounds the corner to the other side of the room locked room to another small exhibit room, ready to reprimand the man if what he hears next is another baseless assumption.

This agitated state distracted him from noticing no one was in this way long enough for a figure to jump down below and club him with a dark cane. The suddenness of the strike dazing him and throwing off his balance for the assailant to swiftly grab is leg with the hoof of his cane, pulling it over and causing the guard to fall hard into the ground. The only sound audibles to him being his phone falling off his pocket, his dazed vision catching the blurred object as he reaches over to grab it. Suddenly then seeing it smashed by a boot and looking up to see a masked intruder raise his cane up before being knocked unconscious.

Grabbing the blue key card with a simply edited recording and a quick trap was quite straightforward enough but then having to drag a near three-hundred-pound man to a nearby broom closet proved to be a tad harder for Enigma. Eventually with much effort he pushed the last limp limb into the small room and closed the door, exhausted but satisfied as he held both key cards in his hands. Getting his second wind he saw the back entrance to the room had now keypad and so returned to the front entrance of the treasure room, ready to see his prize.

At the same time, he swiped both cards and saw the lock pads turn green with the click of the doors now unlocked. That sound will never get old.

Carefully entering the room, he shuts the door behind him and smiles upon see tonight’s prize staring back at him.

In the middle of the large room adorned with small artifacts lined up against the walls, lied the magnificent glass encased stone statue depicting a devious snake holding a stone apple with its tail and its deadly fangs wide open. The detail and eight foot sized of the three hundred year old statue was impressive enough but what made it truly valuable among thieves was it’s one of a kind pair of cut rubies acting as the hypnotic gaze the snake evoked upon temping Eve with the apple of knowledge.

They were also now the dreaded treasure at the center of this place, the source of one’s desires.

Right now he understands the feeling, as this same gaze is what entrances Enigma especially seeing for himself that the Rubies were as large as a person’s head, making them worth a king’s fortune.

Shaking his head to refocus, he reached into one of his coat’s pockets and pulled out a bundle of small canisters in the palm of his hand. Carefully he rolled the across the room, pressing a button in his belt that release the smoke within them, filling the room with gas. Covering his mouth and thankful this gas didn’t set off any fire alarms, he see’s one thing hasn’t changed as the room now was covered with lasers.

Touching any one of these would set off alarms across the whole building, and despite the passageways, there was still a way to get past them. He relaxes his breathing and quickly stretched out his limbs before taking that first precise leap through the lasers. The narrow jumps and cramp landing spots made maneuvering to the Red Eyes excruciatingly difficult, and upon being halfway there he eagerly leapt too soon into a particularly narrow gap and lands on his hands.

His arms shook as he arms held up his upper body with his legs still between the laser gap. He felt beads a sweat pour to the ground as he slowly pulled his legs in, mere centimeters from touching the laser.

What felt like an eternity was over as he stretched his legs upward, still using his arms to hold himself up. He turns to see his back is too the Eyes and he was just one leap away from being withing their grasps. There was only one way to that front seat as he closes his eyes and slowed down his breathing. His heart pounding in his chest as he used all his strength to lung himself up and over the wall of lazers to the Eyes, quickly spinning in the air before nailing the landing.

He chuckles in relief of that working, his old skills truly returning to form tonight with his reward staring right at him. Rubbing the palms of his red gloves he pulls out a glass cutter, slowly stabbing into the glass and cut a large enough hole to fit his arm through and yank out the ruby eyes. With no sign of outside disturbances, he finished the cutting and pops the glass circle out, putting it down and finally at the homestretch.

With a big smile he puts his arm inside the glass encasing, and reaches for the jewels. Fingers twitching, his breathing heavy and his mind racing in being named the thief who’s stole the devil’s eyes!

_“Something’s off…”_

His hand froze as a piece of his rational mind spoke out this warning, this was almost too easy. He reluctantly pulls away from the jewels.

‘This is the source of his desires after all, these sorts of things haven’t been this easy, especially from the layers of security from before,’ he thought. ‘There had to be one last ace up his sleeve incase of the worst possible scenario, but what could it be?’

He scanned the room, seeing over a dozen other smaller artifacts, if the key to getting to the ruby eyes was somewhere in here then even he couldn’t check everyone of them with the maze of lasers. The risk was too high, so he had to pick, but where to look first?

Many of the artifacts were similarly quite worthy to steal, from a suit of European armor, a collection of vases and high-class utensils. Despite the itch, he had to accept that none of them looked to contain the key to the Rubies and he was prepared in only getting away with mere trinkets over such Treasure. The nervousness in his gut started to build as time felt it was running out, in a more hurry to find anything, he noticed one odd ball.

All these artifacts not only were expensive but looked the part, with at least a hint of gold or some other precious material coating it. So, it was odd to see to his right a plain and dusty looking clay jar amongst them.

This started to feel promising as the jar was just a few leaps away from where he stood. Thankfully the pathway was slightly less hazardous as he navigates through the lasers till he reached the glass casing containing the large clay jar.

Unlike the jewels, this didn’t look so easy to grab nor provided much alternative to steal it. With only one idea in mind he unhooked a small tool from his belt and gently placed the tip of it in the center glass. It was either this or chickening out of the mission, so with precision he slammed is fist on the butt end of the tool and saw the whole case shatter in a second.

He flinched anticipating an alarm but either it turned out to be silent or he strategy turned out to have work. Either way, he quickly grabbed and lifted the large jar off it’s display, carrying it over the ground. He lightly shook it, hearing muzzled noise inside, almost like it was sand and how it made it hard to hear anything inside.

“What? We’ve reduced to stealing old pots now?” a voice rings through his head.

“Not exactly,” he curiously said before asking, “also you think the guy who made will be mad if I did this?”

“Did what?” she asked before hearing something expensive breaking, and realizing he dropped the whole jar with sand and shattered pieces littered around his feet.

“The hell did you just do?!” asked another.

“Relax,” Enigma whispered as he kneels down and picks up one of the pieces, a quick inspection exposed the ruse, causing him to chuckle, “Hehehehe, close but no cigar director. Any half decent thief can spot a fake a mile away. Now speaking of fakes.”

He looks up to the Ruby Eyes on display before looking down and pulling out of the pile of sand the two largest rubies he’s ever seen, now firmly within his grasps. “Wow…no wonder Eve was so hypnotized,” he whispered to himself, he guesses the display must’ve been rigged with a special booby trap specifically for thieves like himself.

“Hooray! The treasure’s ours!” a voice joyfully screams into his ear.

“Great! Good, now can we please leave before they notice?” the worried one asks as Enigma pulls out a brown bag and places both rubies inside, thankful they were still relatively lightweight.

Just as he was about to head out he looked over to the fakes and had another idea, “One moment, gotta pour salt on the wound first,” he said as headed towards the statue, hugging the rubies to his chest. Soon landing back in front of it, he swiftly pulls out a small insignia out of his sleeve. Carefully putting his hand inside the case and letting it drop to the bottom of the display, a little farewell card thanking the police and museum for such a wonderful evening.

“Leave please!” a voice pleads to Enigma.

He rolls his eyes and smirks as he quickly turns around while saying, “Alright alright I’m-…uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh!? What Uh-oh???” they asked until hearing the blare of alarms scream through the whole room, now soon the entire building being alerted of his presence. Someone has just stolen the Snake’s eyes.

“You’ve tripped the alarm?!” they scream at him.

“I was distracted!” he defended when he quickly hears a clamor of footsteps as his phone vibrated, signaling a strong distortion rising in this room.

The doors at the other far end suddenly bursts open, with guards much larger and with hollow red eyes looking right at the Thief. “There he is!” one of them yell, “He’s got the Snake’s Eyes!”

The realization of the theft must’ve triggered a surge of distortion within the Director’s heart, causing the his shadow guards to bleed into their world. He needed to leave before getting caught or causing these distortions to worsen!

He see’s the Shadow’s run towards him and quickly smashes the glass casing and ran to the exit as the booby trap sets off. The Shadows see the door behind them close off to a large steel wall before seeing the thief hurry to his narrowing escape. He slides forward holding onto his cap and treasure just as the steel doors shut behind him, locking the shadows inside.

He bursts out of the room only to be met to his right the head of security finding him and immediately charging at him. He saw guards and police enter the building and ran to his left towards the glass window. Out of a desperate act to escape and get out of there sights, he went down the path of the fool and jumped out of the window, shocking everyone who saw including the sergeant and head guard.

“Holy shit!” the sergeant yells as he and everyone else poked their heads out of the broken window and tried to find any sign of the thief but found nothing.

The officer shook his head, his mouth hanging open in shock, “Did he just…”

“No,” the head guard said with upmost seriousness, “no one with that much money on hand would off themselves that quickly. Everyone lock this place down, alert downstairs immediately, no one leaves this building!”

With the command both groups gave their orders, the echoes of which were heard by the thief as he clings onto a large flag flowing of the building below the window. His teeth carrying the sack of rubies as the gusty wind blow both him and the flag in the air, terrifying him to no end as he was still way to far up to simply jump. Looking behind he see’s the small stone ledges sticking out of the building.

Building up his momentum, he swings his body and leaps off, collided with the wall but his feet firmly planted on the thin ledge.

“We are never doing that again,” a voice shakenly tells him

“Noted,” he muffles before grabbing the sack handle off his mouth and turns towards the direction he came from. Despite the unorthodox method of getting here, this alternative route did provide great cover as he clung against the wall and walking his way around the building and garden. If he doesn’t look down and this doesn’t break under his own weight, everything should be fine.

As he inched closer to the garden, he hears from on top and below an increase in commotion as the building it put under high alert. Looking over the building’s corner, he see’s the path way ends here with the garden having only gargoyle and angel statues beneath it. Hiding behind the wall, he quickly pulls out his binoculars and sees at the opposite end a exhaust vent just past the garden grounds, his one way to the rooftop.

With a nervous gulp he took several quick breaths before leaping forward to the statue’s head. He tried his best to gain extra momentum, pushing himself forward as gravity began pulling him down, he bloods pumping till his feet securely were on top of the hanging statue. He never felt this much adrenaline before, both the excitement of the moment with the clamoring of guards running above him filled him with an sense of true adventure, one he so desperately wanted to feel again.

It pushed him to jump to the next statue head and the next and the next, only briefly stopping when he heard a guard close to the railing above.

“No, I’m not kidding, he stole the eyes and jumped out the fucking window…! H-H-How am I supposed to know, we didn’t hear damn a thing!”

Their utter confusion and mad dashes just made this whole experience all the most joyous to the thief as he arrived at his landed on the small ledge right in front of the metal vent.

* * *

“Is the first floor secured? I want every officer posted at any possible exit, even if it’s a crack in the wall I want it watched!” Sasaki commanded through the radio as he lead the nervously director safely through the halls of his museum.

“How did you let this happen! You’re here to stop this exact thing from happening!” the director shouted at him, irritating the inspector to no end.

“Director please stay calm, as far as we know the perpetrator is either still in here or dead, once we stabilize the situation we’ll-“

“I don’t care about some nobody thief! What about my rubies?! You’ve said it yourself they were last seen out a window!” the director worried, almost sobbing at the prospect of his one treasure amongst all these artifacts being shattered.

The Inspector grabbed onto the director, trying to get through to him. Unknowing that right above, a pair of red eyes peeked through a vent, deviously smiling at seeing this man turn into a nervous wreck. He stops when he felt his phone vibrate again, another wave of distortion was coming, he head ached this time as the world around him briefly turned red. The Inspector below not seeing any of this but Enigma witnessing the Director turn into a purple robe wearing imperial emperor.

**_“What scum! Thinking they could get away with my most prized possession! I swear if there’s even a scratch on those Rubies, I’ll have him skinned and hang in the middle of Tokyo! No one will find out about my operations or take my treasure away from me!”_ **

The distortion levels stabilized as the headache went away and he saw the Director return to his human self, now much calmer thanks to the Inspector. This experience causing him to sweat, a drip of which fell out of the vent and landing on Sasaki’s grey coat. His blinks upon hearing the tiny splash, glaring at his shoulder where the sound came from before dragging the Director away with his radio on hand.

Feeling this Inspector guy was on his tail, Enigma hurried to the other end of the vent, bursting out of a room and heading for the doors. Not a second out of it he heard a crowd of officers appear right beside him, quickly trying to grab him but barely missing the thief who tried to run away. The officers give chase, turning corner from corner to keep up with the agile thief who occasionally taunted them. This stopped when he saw the doors to the staircase along with four security guards standing in his way.

He dashes at full speed as if all his fear has vanished as he whipped out his black and red can. The first threw a wild punch but missed as he slides under him, tripping him over with his cane. The second saw as the thief jumped onto and off the right wall and seeing stars when he whacked his face with his cane. The last two tried to give a more straight fight, one throwing the first swing which the thief dodges returns the favor by swinging his cane right into the guard’s gut and finishing him with a swift uppercut before suddenly being grabbed from behind by his pal. The officers turned the corner and were closing in, Enigma as his cane between him and the man’s arms, using the push out of his grasps. Eventually it worked as he swings over and on top the man’s shoulders before smacking the top of his head with his cane. Jumping off the collapsing man and snatching the jewels before dashing towards the stairs.

He shut the doors with a big smile in his face and begun to head up until seeing a large crowd of guards coming down. Heading the opposite way showed armed officers heading up the stairs, so he looked over the hole leading straight down as the doors behind him burst open. He bids them a quick farewell before jumping off and falling straight down, landing at the bottom floor and far from their grasps.

This presented another problem as he ran through the halls and felt the distortion levels rise. “This is getting a little hot for my liking, is there anyway up to the roof?” he asked when the distortion levels reached the highest yet and the room around him shifted. The walls resembling the crumbled walls of Roman/Greek antiquity, now covered in moss and rubble, the guard the appeared before him wearing imperial roman armor. Enigma hides behind a column and wait for the shadow to leave,

“An exit would be nice right now,” he muttered between his teeth as the threat level in this section raised significantly.

“How about the stairs?”

“Looked a bit crowded last time,” he whispered while hiding from another guard, “any other options?”

“…the elevators perhaps,” they suggest as a familiar ding was heard down the hall.

With no other leads, Enigma followed from the chime came from, bypassing two stationary guards before coming around the corner to see elevator doors close as a few shadows leave. With a sigh of relief, he checked the immediate perimeter and dashed over to the button, running in as soon as the elevator doors opened. He see’s the small door above to the outside of the mechanism and climbs out so not to be surprised by any unsuspecting guests.

In the cold, dark metal shaft he was able to spot a work ladder and hurried as he climbed to his intended destination. The only thing he wished thought was that the levels were a bit easier to tell in this darkness, but if he kept going up then that only brought him closer to freedom. He felt he has crossed a few levels when he heard a scary sound, he knew looking down wasn’t going to help and kept climbing even as the ladder shook from the elevator below moving up at a fast pace. Each clanging of the steel metal signaled its approach with seemingly the intention to head to the very top as well.

Despite the attempt he felt the machine arriving in seconds and finally jumps off to land on top of the elevator, glad to not be red smear on the wall and hoping the occupants below didn’t hear him. He wasn’t quite out of it yet through as the elevator only kept going up, he looks up to see he’s close enough to the very ceiling and it didn’t feel like sitting here will save him from being crushed. With no other clear exit presented he risks it but lying flat on the ceiling and watch as the elevator speeds towards the ceiling. His nose inches away from the incoming metal when they suddenly stopped, and the people inside have left the elevator.

After a quick nervous chuckle, he exits out of the cramp space and falls inside, checking his corners as he regains his bearings and finds one possible route clear of enemies and leads straight to the roof.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

“Sergeant what the hell are you on about?” Sasaki’s demands on the radio as he runs to the main entrance.

“I’m just relaying what the others been saying, something about walking ghosts in armor? I don’t get it either sir, I’ve never heard of anything like this before.”

“Well tell them to focus up and find that thief, he was last seen jumping to the first floor. I’m heading to the main crowd there to ensure he isn’t blending in with them,” Sasaki informed everyone in the radio as he bursts open the main doors, shocking a couple of worried attendants at what’s going on.

As he and a few other officers try to calm them down while scanning all their faces, a door far above opens.

On the small balcony in the four level stood the tired Enigma as he see’s the large crowd far below. ‘Man, I really got everyone in a panic over some rubies huh?’ he thought to himself before looking forward and seeing at the other side a small walkway leading to a side door.

“Bingo,” he smirks to himself as he see’s the pathway over there. Just below him as was a lone tightrope with three large flag banners hanging off it, along with two large chandeliers to his left- and right-hand side. 

“Geez what’s with today and heights,” he mumbles as he lunges over the stone railing and land on the rope. He quickly regains his balance and realizes what’s throwing him off. With great care, he puts away the bag and cares both large rubies on both hands, stretching them out so that his center of gravity is balanced out. Once he got the hang of this position, it was only a matter of taking this step by step.

‘Despite these scares, they only make tonight even more thrilling!’ he thought to himself as he was halfway to the exit.

Down below, Inspector Sasaki and other officers were able to quiet down the crowd and see if the thief was amongst them. Nothing they carried or wore matched with the blurred descriptions guards and officers described him as.

‘Damn that man! This place is littered with security and cameras and yet nothing, its like he’s walking right under our…no…’ he thought as he applies his previous experience with this thief and looks up to see a dark figure moving on a rope.

“He’s up there!” he shouts out, catching everyone’s attention including the very theft in their sights.

The sudden shock and rupture of panic noises down below ruined Enigma’s posture as he slowly lost balanced. Everyone below saw clearly as a dark figure almost falls off a tightrope if not for grabbing onto a nearby chandelier, the sight of it delicately swinging above them caused a wave of guests running in panic of it falling. This wave of heading to any nearby exit leaves the inspector and officers stuck in the crowds.

Sasaki can resist the wave and keeps his eye on this theft, soon both were locked on each other as Enigma spots the angry inspector with a look of surprise and intrigue of seeing him somewhere before. The two stared back at each other as if daring the other to make the first move.

‘Well don’t mind if I do Inspector.’ With a quick sly smirk and wink, he swung his legs up and leapt onto the top of the chandelier before making a risky jump to the final ledge. The Inspector below couldn’t believe this criminal actually risked it, watching with utter shock at the thief clearing the jump with both rubies in hand and dashing to the exit.

“All Officers to the Northern building stat!” he commands as he starts heading where that walkway may be,” I want a perimeter around the premises and all lights on the rooftop, the thief is getting away!”

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

He was just at the home stretch now; he dumps the precious gems safely back into the bag as he runs up the small flight of stairs.

He soon spots a green door and runs at full speed, bursting out the other end and feeling the satisfying gust of cool wind blowing on his face. He runs towards the ledge of the large building, looking out to the city skyline and the amount of ruckus he caused below. He ducks out of there view as the first search lights came out and began pointing at the roof. With that being his signal to wrap things up here, Enigma reaches into his coat when his phone once again blares an alert.

“Again?!” he gawks in shock before hearing slashes of goo behind, turning to see three large shadows appear.

 **“Stealing the Emperor’s treasure?!”** shouted the head shadow, **“just who do you think you are?!”**

He gently puts the bag down as he slightly raises his arms up, “haven’t I made it quite obvious already?” His mask ignites with a blue flame as a shadowy figure appear behind him, “I’m a thief who steals for fun.”

He pulls out his black cane, twisting it as its red ring unsheathes, revealing a hidden steel blade. With a mighty roar he cries out, **“Filibus!”** thus transforming the shadowy figure into a gold four arm Persona, its automaton like wings and body powered by a powerful gear machine within with steam pipes sticking out as well. Its most defining feature being it’s four faces head, turning to show a look of sheer anger

All three shadows unveil their true forms as Two Beriths and a powerful Oni, ready for battle. Enigma points his blade at the shadowy foes while his Persona summons a one large longsword.

With a quick taunt he gets into his battle stance and analyzes his enemies, none sadly presented any weakness for a quick takedown but yet only were capable of physical attacks. Keeping this in thought he makes the first move by swinging his blade at one of the Beriths, wounding it but saw it was still in the battle. The two retaliated by charging forward with their spears, their large size making it easier to avoid one of their attacks, but the other Enigma just had to take as it tears through coat and arm. What worried him next was the Oni slamming it large sword to the ground, causing a rampage of invisible hits to hit Enigma twice.

He couldn’t focus on healing now, that’ll only give them time to strike and putting up his guard will only turn this to a battle of attrition, something not quite his specialty. Moving to more complex move, he summons his persona and aims her sights at the Oni boss. **“Charge, Filibus!”** he commanded as its expression twisted to fear, unleashing a shrieking cry as it attacks the enemy with a curse attack. He smiles in relief that despite having no weakness, the Oni’s susceptibility level to elementals was very low leaving it stunned from the curse effects.

This didn’t give him a chance to fully retaliate as the two Beriths turned for a second run at him. Both were able hits their target, piercing Enigma with their great spears, leaving his health worryingly low as he struggles to stand his ground. He winces as particularly deep cut on his right leg. He wasn’t giving up, not when he’s so close!

He summons his Persona again, this time using his growing anger to fuel it with power as it’s face shifted back to a Wrath. It raises it large sword, giving a mighty roar as it swings, slashing all three combatants and finishing off the wounded Berith. There were only the two shadows left with Oni still stunned from his curse. The battle was still either sides to win, the last desperate Berith charged at his enemy, Enigma anticipated his attack and jumped over the shadow knight before swiftly decapitating it with his blade.

Not wanting to leave anything to chance he immediately charges and strikes the down Oni several times before jumping back and downing him with a swift shot of his Walter PPK pistol. With the critical and harmful effects sapping away most of its health there was only one way to finish this battle. “

“Let’s wrap this up!” he triumphantly shouted as his leapt high into the air and smiled in glee as he swung strike after strike with the defenseless Oni only seeing the red in his eyes before a final swift cut at it’s neck. It’s figure frozen in place until Enigma lands back down, his red scarf blowing in the wind as fixing his glove before clenching it in a fist when a hail of blood bursts out of the fallen Shadow.

“Felt that one didn’t ya?” he chuckles at his victory over the last shadows in his way.

He winces at his still wounded leg but ignores it for now when he was right at the finish line. He sheaths his blade and grabs the ruby eyes, pulling out a grappling hook and aiming it at a nearby tower. Upon calculating the trajectory of the shot, he readied the trigger as the rooftop door bursts open.

Inspector Sasaki only briefly see’s the masked thief as a light below shines on him, the thief turns to the Inspector and tips his hat farewell as he fires his shot and it pulled off into the distance. Sasaki could only run to where he was and watch as the man disappears into the night sky.

The thief could hear the man’s shouting in the distance as well as the distortion levels finally dying down for good.

* * *

 **(6/1/20** **XX – Saturday, After School. Sunny) – (Location: Shujin Academy)**

The classroom was almost entirely empty, only a few scattered students working on assignments or hanging with friends resided. The blonde ponytail girl with peculiar blue eyes sat in the back-middle row of the room, munching on a bag of chips on top her work booklet as she watches a news report with her headphones. Usually these sorts of things don’t capture her attention for too long, but this certain headline was something she eagerly waited for upon hearing yesterday’s report.

“Police have refrained from any comment after last night’s break in to the newly built History Museum, including the insistence that the Museum’s board member stay away from taking any interviews,” reported the news anchor as the blue eyed girl shook her head with a wide grin,” This however wasn’t able to stop a leak from Director Nakajima, who released a brief clip of him saying this: ‘I’ve always strived to be greatest at what I do, born from my love of the past and the stories it had to told. It was the Ruby Eyes that possessed me and pushed me to discover pieces just as beautiful. I began my career off this humble prospect of sharing history with the world. It is then with a heavy heart that I must confess my sins, my hunt for priceless artifacts and clouded my vision, showing me not the honor of possesses something so beautiful but what how much I can get if sold to the right buyer. I’ve for years sold real artifacts to the black market, getting rich of these fortunes and making replicas of the real ones to display and cover my tracks. Please, arrest me so that I can share where the real ones are, let me do this one last act as a historian. After that, lock me up for the rest of my life, I don’t care anymore.’”

“Woahohoha!!” the girl squealed at such a revelation, her laughs catching everyone’s attention and many knowing what she’s laughing about. “Take that old man ahaha! Local hero strikes again” she claps at this cool, mysterious figure pulling off the perfect caper and enacting they’re own justice on people like Nakajima.

“Could you please lower your tone Sakamoto?” sighed a tired student as she walks up to the girl, she see’s her school uniform and red ribbon tied around her dark hair. She also sees the girl is walking with her glasses and face mask on again along with her old crutches, her arm muscles tensed up with her legs utterly stiff.

“O-oh, sorry Mao, I thought you’ve already left,” she apologies, getting up from her seat and reorganizing her messy desk, something that annoyed her friend.

“Usually yeah but my folks are running a little late and I’ve left some important documents here anyway,” she shrugged, admitting that in any other circumstance they probably wouldn’t even be talking now, it was just one of those days.

“You want to give them to the Student Council and their president, right? Here let me help, I was planning on leaving too anyway.”

“I can do still do this by myself,” she grumbled yet couldn’t put up any real resistance, unless she risks hurting her arms or legs from the movement needed.

“I know you can, but let me help you out this once, we are basically family after all,” she said happily to cheer the girl up, it was less than successful.

“More like extended family under mostly personal reasons than legal or genetic ones, regardless if your insistent than fine, no point getting another headache from arguing,” she groaned and slowly headed out of the classroom.

“Hey so did you hear about the robbery last night?” the blonde girl asks, “it was so cool hearing what he did last night, you think he’s cute?”

“I think he’s reckless,” she spats out, “like this school our society is built off rules, if anyone feels they are above it they end up no better than that Director.”

“Geez Mao, as critical and analytical as always, but I suppose that just a class rep. for ya huh?” the blonde cheekily smirked, but Mao only closed her eyes in mild frustration.

The two continue to quietly walk through the Shujin halls, Sakamoto waiting patiently as her friend too the automated seat up the stairs or else risk straining her muscles even more. Soon they walk up to the Student Council room and open to see they’re in the middle of important business. Mao, slightly flustered, informs them of the documents as Sakamoto hands them over. They quickly thank them before brushing them aside to get back to business, this annoyed Sakamoto and only caused Mao to look down the floor before just moving on. What else can she say or do to that?

They walk their way down to the first floor and walk out the entrance gates, Mao having to take the handicap path on the side before being helped down by Sakamoto. A loud horn is heard in the distance, just down the street parked a car with a tall dark hair man waving at them. Sakamoto waves back before asking Mao, “You want me to help you over?”

“N-no, this much I can do, thanks,” she whispers before making her way to the man who ran up to assist her to the car.

Sakamoto clenches her fist in frustration, seeing her best friend be this way never gets easier, in fact since the first day she has seen it with her own eyes it has only worsened.

The awful feelings is briefly lifted when someone pokes her shoulder and says, “Got no practice today Nina?” asked the thick glasses wearing girl with a notepad in hand.

“Oh, ah no not today Noriko, coa- or well Dad said we’ve been doing fantastic so far and that’s its important to rest as much as practicing!”

“Heh, I could never understand P.E, at least you guys provide interesting sport column stories,” she compliments as she pushes up her glasses, “speaking of news, have you seen what they news network said over at my internship?”

“Oh totally! It’s amazing to think it even happened yet they pulled it off without a hitch!” Nina cheered excitedly.

“Totally, still it’s weird that it finally happened, it felt like I was following the last week on that museum cause of some request. Now that it’s over I wonder how they feel about?” Noriko pondered, remembering the person who suddenly asked them that odd question.

Then that train of thought broke when both their stomachs rumbled.

“Hehe, look like it’s another beef bowl treat for us huh?” Nina smiled, mentally drooling at having a real lunch/dinner or linner. Noriko didn’t mind but made sure to remind herself not to look at Nina eating unless she gets a stomachache.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

The man in the driver’s seat tapped his finger on the steering wheel, eager to move as traffic gotten heavy. The girl in the back seat beside her crutches tries to relax her legs, overlooking assignments and terms on the side so to prep for exams next month. Besides the radio they’re was a lingering question both knew was going to be asked with the man being the first to ask.

“Mind explaining where those bandages came from?”

“It was a cat,” she answered quite quickly.

“A cat? You mean like Morgana?”

“No not that small, it was a really big cat,” she clarified with a hint of annoyance in her voice, “ it happened right outside school so Nurse Shibata was able to patch it up quickly enough to get me to class on time.”

“You know the teacher is quite aware of your condition Mao,” he says looking at her through the rear-view mirror.

“Yes, I remember.”

“Your mother and I met him ourselves about it, he encourages if getting here is to tough for you-“

“I can’t accept that,” she talked back, perhaps a bit to loudly than she intended, “I mean, as the class representative I have certain responsibilities over my classmates and to the school. Even if it’s not to the same level as the student council.”

The father nods as traffic begins to let up, “I understand, you not exactly a quitter with these things, just always remember your limits and that others like Nina can help whenever.”

“I don’t need to be reminded of my limits Dad,” she whispered to herself, refocusing on getting her work down.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way…hey, I’m stopping by LeBlanc to get some old stuff from the attic. Want me to make coffee, I have my first ever Shogi set just under the counter.”

His daughter stopped writing for a moment, shrugging and quiet yes as he makes a right turn.

Driving back to this tiny street never ceased being nostalgic for him. He shrugs it off however as he parked and got out of the car, focusing on helping his daughter out the car. He held her with such delicate care, knowing the nerve pain she already goes through daily in her legs, the increased stiffness in her right arm brining in more concern. ‘We should revisit the doctor again, Makoto said we need to get new medication soon as well.’

He tried not to talk to much about this, keeping silent as the walked to the Café’s door. He knew his daughter was a bright girl and knew more than anyone else of the problem, treating her too much like a child would only hurt her in the long run.

‘she really does have Makoto’s drive,’ he smiles proudly as they enter the empty shop and she sat herself down by the bar.

She was reading through a rented book required for her literature class while her father was rummaging through stuff above. Very likely being shop materials or just old holiday decorations. He left the TV off so not to distract her but did leave the stores radio on as a smooth jazz song played in the air. Resting her eyes quickly, she spots the shelf of jars sporting new kinds of coffee and a new curry pot in the back, ‘has it been that long since I’ve been here?’ she ponders.

She recalls the last time she was; it was a small but fun family get together, just a place to talk about life and share another quiet moment together.

‘I wouldn’t mind doing something like that again,’ she wishes when the sound from the stairs signaled her father done with the grunt work.

His hair was covered with dust and sweat when he came down, making Mao smiling under her medical mask. Then with skill and speed of a master brew the both a warm cup of coffee as he proceeded to set their game up.

“Got any new strategies waiting for me? Be warned I still got a few moves up my sleeve from my old master,” he smiled to get them both their minds strategizing.

“Actually yeah, but it may be a bit unorthodox so be warned father,” Mao confidently said, making him smile even more at her.

“Hehe a challenge eh? Alright then, make the first move.”

Soon the father and daughter were amidst a battle of wits, when it came to this game her father has worked to earn his title of Shogi Warrior, it was a challenge Mao often hoped of beating one day. She wasn’t fond of losing.

In their match, Mao moved a decisive piece in the board, her father nodding in how bold the move was.

“Very good, anybody else and you be a move or two away from checkmate. However, it’ll take more than that to move me off my thrown,” he comedically boasted as he placed his finger on top a piece. “By the way, I don’t know if you heard yet, but have heard that report on the famed Ruby Eyes?”

The piece slides and takes down one of Mao’s key pieces. She thinks through her next move and decides to go the safer route. “Of course, something that valuable being stolen would get anyone talking. Feel bad for mom though, that Director just had to get the police involved.”

“It her job Mao,” he tells her while making anther move, “besides this is nothing she can’t handle, her absolute attention on the main problem than on flashy headlines is what distinct her from the past commissioner.”

“Well when this guy strike again, hopefully he won’t cause too much of a headache.”

She makes another safe move, planning her next strike if things go well.

“You’re that confident he’ll steal again? I mean imagine how much those rubies would sell for; he be set for life. What would his motive be?” he asks, not taking his eyes off her as he makes his next move and cornering her most important piece.

He watched as she put all her focus on the board, sitting for several minutes at finding a way out of her predicament. She wasn’t’ going down this easily.

“The man’s a thief, right? Particularly one that strives not just for riches but so to say he has done it. Any other thief would steal from their local jeweler or some person off the street, this man has conviction and won’t stop till he’s called by the whole world, ‘The Best.’”

Mao moves her next piece, hoping for an error from her father to finish her final plan. This would distract him and with a swift move, declares, “Check.”

“Dang it,” she sighs, snapping her fingers in failing to solve the problem and now lost her whole army.

“Good game, better than last time too,” he congratulated as they shook hands, instilling the importance of honor even between opponents. “About what you said too, I’m no detective but I’m sure your deduction is on the money. Do you think he’s also connected with the old Phantom Thieves? His previous victims were clear criminals caught of their crimes, but this Director is the first to confess his crimes in front of everybody despite possibly covering it up.”

Mao shrugged as she leaned back in her chair, “The obvious answer would be yes, however, what the old police gather about them says they were a tightly knit group thus less likely to expand their ranks. Add on to the fact that by now the original members would be far too old to match with this perp’s description and dexterity, then the idea just falls apart. He hasn’t even adopted their name.”

Her father was quiet for a while before noticing he was staring at his reflection and quickly clears his throat. “W-well I guess that makes sense for the most part, if your done with your coffee how about we head home and call it a day?”

Mao nods and eases off her chain onto her crutches. Her father puts away a few last things before opening the door and closing shop.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

The sun was almost gone by the time they enter the driveway, Mao and her father being more surprised when they spot another car parked.

“She here this early?” he muttered in surprise as he helped Mao reach the front door of their two story home.

Once inside, her father takes both his and her shoes off before being immediately met with smiling face. “Let me guess, you two hung out at Leblanc and talked about the break in, right?” Makoto asks, still in her work clothes while holding a police file under her arm.

“Two of the largest rubies in the world were just stolen right across the street, who isn’t talking about it?” Ren chuckled as he opened a nearby closet and pulled a wheelchair, Mao didn’t want to look at it.

Makoto saw both her usual reaction as well as the bandage around her right leg, “Hey Ren, mind helping me get something from the kitchen please?” she asked while giving the signal. He immediately gets the message and tells their daughter dinner will be ready soon and meets with his wife in the kitchen. Closing the door behind them Makoto then immediately whispered, “Who hurt her! Were you able to reach anybody at school about this!”

“It wasn’t a bully!” he quickly clarified, “she said it was a street cat that scratched her right outside school, I even called the nurse at Leblanc to verify. It thankfully wasn’t infected and easy to patch up, just larger than any cat scratch she’s seen before.”

Hearing this quelled Makoto’s anger, taking a deep breath in relief that it’ll heal normally, but still frightful of the prospect of some cruel student touching their daughter.

“That wasn’t the only reason you wanted us here, am I right?” Ren asks with a somber expression.

“She’s still adamant about that chair, the least we can do is give her room so nobody sees,” Makoto says, remembering last month’s update from her doctor concerning her disease, hearing him say she’ll likely need a chair in the near future pained all of them. It was getting worse. Yet despite this, seeing the conviction in her gave them hope something will bounce her back, money was no object if it meant getting the best of the best to treat her condition. Makoto slumps on the counter with a sad look in her eyes, “I’m always surprised by her fortitude and commitment to go out despite everything, I just wish she didn’t strain herself so often.”

“She’s strong, just like you,” Ren told her earnestly.

His wife gives a small smile, “I know, but…I hope she doesn’t become too much like me. I still lose my temper far too often at things.”

She rubs the temple of her head to relax, suddenly feeling arms wrap around her as she was now nestled within Ren’s calming hug. “Thank you…for being here,” she whispers.

“I’ll always be here,” he assured her before letting them both get back to business.

Ren quickly finished and served dinner while Makoto met with their daughter at the kitchen table. She was sitting in the wheelchair working on her assignments, papers and textbooks littered across where she sat. Makoto quickly looked over the last of her files about last night’s burglary before putting them aside and sitting next to her daughter. Those matching red eyes and hairstyle resembling hers when she in high school, now having let it grow out a little while keeping professional for work.

“How have classes been going Mao?” Makoto asked kindly, “I’ve heard your schools track team is aiming to retain their first-place status, did Nina or her father talk to you about it?”

Mao stopped with her work and answered her mother, “Well, Coach Ryuji held off practice today, saying resting was just as important as eating and training. Nina definitely followed the former, even eating a bag of chips as soon as class was done.” Both her and her mother chuckled at the last part, that girl was the daughter of the biggest meat and sweets eater of all of Tokyo. Despite her eating habits, she really was a go getter when it came to running, or really any kind of sport she tries out.

Mao first felt inspired seeing Nina, now, she feels a tinge of jealousy.

“As for classes well…it’s tough,” she grunted, flopping her head into the table and the sheets of paper filled with question after question.

“I see,” her mother nods in understanding, “it wasn’t always easy for me when I was younger, so it’s naturally you feel like there’s no end to these problems, but you’ve always been a smart girl Mao. Your last grade report showsAs your one of the top students in your whole class.”

“One of…but not the best,” Mao mumbled into the table.

“Then use that to fuel your conviction,” Makoto confidently encouraged her, “let it help you not only work harder but find more effective means of solving those problems, you can be a quick leaner Mao so who knows what’s out there that could help you next.”

“…thanks mom,” Mao smile as she lifts herself out of the slump as the smell of food fill the room. Ren walks in with all their plates at hand and a fatherly smile that brought an air of security and assurance with it. This warmness with being together with her family helped put aside all of Mao’s worries. The best to do right now is ignore these pains and act as the best daughter her parents would’ve wanted.

If only for this moment.

* * *

**(6/1/20XX – Saturday, Evening. Windy) – (Location: Amamiya Residence)**

The lights were off inside her room, the only light source coming from her work desk lamp left on. Lying in her bed, Mao tried to ease her mind which helped her latest dose of medication run more smoothly in her systems. The Shower was a hassle but very much needed considering she didn’t get a chance to take one last night, let alone early this morning.

‘As expected, everyone is talking about it, I think Nina’s was still the most amusing even if it was a bit on the loud side,’ Mao smiled to herself as she laid in bed. Her expression changes when recalling her parents behavior today, ‘Mom only brought it up once before dropping it entirely, then again it probably was one of the biggest case she has to deal with today. Wonder if she met that Inspector kid, hehe I could just imagine the look on his face is she did, probably between being pissed off or scared to death by mom.’

‘Still, Dad’s questions seemed rather…interrogative, but that maybe just my imagination. If he did know, or at least suspect it was me, he would’ve said it right there at Leblanc. He did work in politics before so he of all people knows when to talk about something important.’

_“What would his motive be?”_

She takes out her phone and see’s the red eye humming at the corner of the scream, almost as if it was alive. ‘It’s exactly like I said, Maou does it for honor and bringing happiness back into our lives, it’s the only aspect in my life that offers anything thrilling,’ she tells herself, clutching the phone to her chest. ‘but I only steal from other thieves, so to proof to the others that I can still make a difference in this world despite my setbacks…or maybe Dad was implying something else. Maybe I’m just lying to myself, all that sense of righteousness being just an afterthought to live out the old days again, where anything was so much more attainable, that nothing can hold me back…despite it all being in vain and I inevitably have to return back being…like this again.’

Her clutches tighten on her phone, a boiling frustration at herself. Why did life have to turn out like this?

“Why does it matter!” she screams out, throwing her phone down and trying to get on her chair to do something other than wallowing in bed. It pained her to get on, it hurts doing almost anything with this stupid condition, so what as wrong blowing some steam the only way she knew how?

“Not like anybody got seriously hurt,” she muttered as she moves her chair over to her desk, pulling out her a small laptop from a secret compartment. Opening it showed her hidden account had a recent email.

“I.G,” she whispers in recognizing his Diamond Insignia. She pulls up the email and see’s what he written.

/-\\-/-\\-/-\

_**I.G** : Damn dude, you really did it. When I found the jewels at the drop-off point, I slapped myself thinking I was dreaming or something._

_**Enigma** : I wouldn’t have pursued these precious beauties if I knew I couldn’t. I always uphold my part of the deal. Have you done yours?_

_**I.G** : I have, I have. Already know a few potential buyers who’ll pay top dollar to get these in their own proper museums or archives, all legit with clean records of course. Just gotta wait for authorities to ease up before selling them._

_**I.G** : I have your cut ready as per our agreement…but with a prize this huge, I wouldn’t sleep well tonight without saying something._

_**Enigma** : If your talking about raising my cut, I’ve already talked about this, too high of a boost in my account would raise suspicion for the both of us. Same with buying too many equipment from yours and other’s sites. _

_I steal because I can, not for cash._

_**I.G** : … Yeah, I get it._

_**I.G** : Alright, I’ll send the money exact like you’ve requested, and I’ll give you a 50% discount for any gadgets or tools you’ll need. I’ll be set for a while with this much dough so no arguing okay?_

_**Enigma** : Offer accepted. If that’s all then I’m ending this discussion. Farewell._

_**I.G** : Take care._

\\-/-\\-/-\\-/

She closes the tab and soon receives a notification, her hidden account doubling in an instant. With this much cash, she be better set for whatever the coming future has in store for her. From universities, emergencies, broken equipment, etc.

If this keeps up then the possibilities became increasingly endless.

“Yeah exactly, not only helping me but any issues Mom, Dad, Nina, or any of the others deal with. The Director was a scumbag who only hoarded his wealth, so what’s wrong with me sharing some of it?” Her speaking speed increases, her heart racing in finally feeling she has more control over her life, ‘Yeah, a-and the first thing I’ll do is start paying for my medical bills, so I’ll no longer be such a pain to Mom and Dad anymore. It’s a win-win! I…I know is.”

She slowly eases herself, her heartbeat drumming her ears as she started to feel very tired from just this moment of excitement. Mao turns to her laptop, her latest notification telling of a recent murder in Shinjuku, another case from “The Phantasms.” She felt the temptation into researching more into this, at what kind of state their palace was in and what treasure awaits within it’s depths.

However, she stops her twitching hand and forces it to close the machine, hiding it away back in its compartment before shutting off the last light.

She never felt so tired before, despite the powers this so-called “Metaverse” gives to her, it doesn’t rid of the fatigue she’s so susceptible to from it. She lays herself on top her bed, perhaps a quick shut eye would make finding her next case that much easier. She wonders about the last time she gotten a good night’s sleep as her eyes got heavy.

Her final thoughts rummaging through mind, as she faint’s says, ‘I envy you Maou,’

Then escaped again from her reality. 

* * *

**A/N** : A different kind of story that aims stick with the basics and see how it is too write about thievery and mystery. Also I've just finished Persona 5, loved every minute of it and had Makoto and Ren be together by the end. Once I got thinking about what their relationship might be like 26 years from now while reading up on some of the more popular stories about them, I sort of got this idea that I couldn't shake off.

Mao/Maou's design being a mash up of Makoto's and Ren's outfits along with new elements to tie into her other self as well as late 19th century wear with the cap, coat and cane specifically.

The spin here of their child Mao being a upstanding but trouble girl by day but by night is the increasingly popular solo thief Maou came from an 1915 Italian thief movie called **"Filibus"** , get it? There the main character similarly switches from a noble baroness to a romantic male thief. Since Ren's persona and design was heavily inspired by Arsene who's from that time period I felt it was appropriate to have his child share that as well. Looking more into that period has got me thinking of a potential long story expansion at the other Phantom Thieves children and this mysterious **"Phantasms"** but honestly I gotta focus on my other works and real life first.

In case your curious, imagine the Phantasms as a collection of late 19th century inspired baddies with it's leader's name inspiring the group title.

Anyway I've hope you've enjoyed this short story and have a great day.


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